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“You said I could ask later.”

She sets her cup on the ledge above us. “I wondered how long you’d wait.”

I put my tea beside hers.

“May I take your hair down?”

“Yes.”

She turns so I can reach the tie. My claws withdraw before I touch the cord. It takes me two attempts to undo the small knot. Vai starts to offer help, then stops when I ease it loose.

I loosen the braid from the bottom, working upward until the last strands come free. Her hair covers my wrist. At the nape of her neck I find a smaller knot and separate it slowly, feeling her lean back against my fingers.

Vai has stopped talking.

“Am I pulling?”

“No.” She turns back toward me. “I like it.”

Her hair catches against my chest. I move it aside, and she leans up to kiss me.

I forget the tie until it drops into her lap.

She catches it with a laugh. “I’ll need that tomorrow.”

I take it from her and put it beside the cups. When I turn back, she is waiting close enough that I can kiss her without reaching.

I do.

Her arm goes around my neck.

Her lips are warm and soft against mine. I feel her draw closer and have to resist following when she pauses for breath; I want another kiss before she has even finished this one. She shifts beside me, trying to get closer, and I draw her onto my lap. Her boots rest on the floor, her shoulder against my chest.

“Is that better?” I ask.

“Very.”

She kisses me again. I draw my arm more securely behind her back. She settles as though she means to stay there, and I stop thinking about how soon I ought to leave.

When she lifts her head, her hand stays against my neck.

“I thought about this all afternoon,” I tell her.

“While you were working?”

“After I’d finished.”

“I wouldn’t have told Reivaka.”

“You’d have enjoyed knowing.”

She smiles. “I enjoy knowing now.”

I kiss her forehead. She settles against me, tucking her head beneath my chin.

The roots carry the evening movement of the household beneath us. I can attend to a dozen rooms from here, and usually would while waiting for the tea to cool. I rest against the wall and let the household manage without me.

Vai picks up my cup from the ledge and passes it to me.